Moistening mechanism for rotary duplicating machines



Nov. 17, 1953 I K 2,659,304

MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed April 24,1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l R if.

M J5 45 Z2, 7

INVENTOR.

Q RQ Q 2/6777" D/(ZIL H. P. KElL Nov. 17, 1953 MOISTENING MECHANISM FORROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 24, 1952INVENTOR. Hflzr 0 (gzl H. P. KEIL Nov. 17, 1953 MOISTENING MECHANISM FORROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed April 24, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR. fizrzry 0 (a l Nov. 17, 1953 H. P. KEIIL MOISTENING MECHANISMFOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 24, 1952INVENTOR. 772227 2 Kez' Z BYM Atty.

Nov. 17, 1953 H. P. KEIL 2,659,304

MOISTENING MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed April 24,1952 5 SheetsSheet 5 INVENTOR. 4 F/wz 7 (41' BY W Patented Nov. 17, 1953AYES PATENT FFWE MOISTENING IVIECHANISM FOR ROTARY DUPLICATENG MACHINESHenry 1?. Hell, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Fixture Hardware Corp Thepresent invention is directed to improvements in a duplicating machinewherein copy sheets are moistened on one face with a solvent liquid andthen pressed against a master sheet which has the material to be copiedprinted thereon in reverse with hectograph ink. In machines of thischaracter it is customary to mount the master sheet on the drum by meansof a suitable gripping device and to press the copy sheet against themaster sheet on the drum by means of a small resilient pressure roller.The copy sheets are fed between two feeding rollers which areintermittently operated from the drum and one of the feeding rollers hasits surface moistened with the solvent liquid by means of a roller whichruns in a trough containing a supply of the solvent liquid and a secondroller which transfers the solvent from the roller in the trough to themoistening roller.

In machines of this character it is necessary that the roller surfacesremain truly cylindrical in order to obtain the best copies. If a rollerbe comes flattened it will adversely aifect the distribution of thesolvent to the copy sheet. It is the purpose of my invention to providea novel construction for supporting and controlling the several smallrollers which moisten and advance the copy sheet to the drum and pressit against the drum, whereby the rollers are brought into contact witheach other only when the machine is operating and whereby they may beseparated from each other in a simple fashion whenever a particular runof copies has been completed.

It is also a purpose of this invention to provicle a novel. assembly ofthe moistening rollers in combination with a drum cam for intermittentlydriving the rollers, which combination reduces the shock of engaging thecam with the driving wheels that are provided on the transfer roller ofthe moistening group so as to make the drum easier to turn and to makethe driving Wheelsself adjusting with respect to the cams on the drum.

It is also a purpose of the invention to provide an improved means forsupplying liquid to the trough or fountain in which one of the rollersoperates, which facilitates cleaning of the liquid inlets, andmaintenance of the moistening mechanism.

The nature and advantages of this invention will appear more fully fromthe following description and the accompanying drawings wherein apreferred embodiment of the invention is shown. It should be understoodhowever, that the drawings and description are illustrative onlyoration, Chicago, KlL, a

and are not intended to limit the invention except insofar as it islimited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan sectional view taken substantially on the line l-l ofFigure 8 with part of the drum being left in place to show its relationto the operative mechanism and the remainder of the drum being brokenaway to show the parts beneath it;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially on the line22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showingthe parts in a changed position from that shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 3-Q of FigureI;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detailed view partly in section looking at theleft hand end of Figure 1, but showing the connection between thesolvent bottle holding unit and the tubes which lead to the liquidtrough in cross section;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line $-t ofFigure 5;

Figure '7 is a View in side elevation of a duplieating machine embodyingmy invention, looking at the machine from the left hand end of Figure 1;and

Figure 8 is a view in side elevation of the duplicating machine, lookingat the right hand end of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figures 1 to 4inclusive, my invention is shown as embodied in a duplicating machinewhich comprises supporting side frames is and l and sliced tray at l2 onwhich copy sheets may be advanced. A drum i3 is mounted between the sideframes it and it and has its shaft it journalled for rotation in theside frames. The drum is rotated by a handle l5 which is shown mostclearly in Figure 8 of the drawings, Any suitable master sheet clampingmechanism such as that shown in my rior application, Serial No. 760,538,filed July 12, 1947, for Duplicating Apparatus, Letters Patent No.2,597,804, dated May 26, 1952, may be used for securing a master sheetto the drum it. A portion of this clamping mechanism is illustrated atE6 in Figure 3 of the drawings. The details of this clamping mechanismare not illustrated herein as they form no part of the presentinvention. A pressure roller E? is utilized to press copy sheets againsta master sheet secured on the drum it. In order to feed the copy sheetsto the drum and to supply them with a suitable so1vent, I employ a lowercopy sheet feeding roller |8, a moistening and feeding roller l9, afountain roller and a transfer roller 2|. The fountain roller 26 runs ina fountain or trough 22 which is supported between the side frames HIand H in front of the drum l3 and over an upwardly inclined guide lipI20, on the copy sheet feeding platform 52.

The construction and arrangement of the supporting mechanisms for theseveral rollers just described is such that when the parts are in theresting position, as illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, theseveral rollers are spaced apart and entirely free of each other so thatthere is no tendency for one roller to flatten another even though theymay be left without operation for a long time. A simple mechanism isprovided whereby the several rollers may be moved into operativeengagement with each other under suitable pressure and the-pressureroller |1 may be brought into pressure engagement with the drum I3 byoperating a hand lever 23 which is shown at the right hand end of Figure1 and in the lower right hand corner of Figure 8. Preferably thetransfer roller 2| is a metal roller with a hard surface that is finelygrooved for distributing the liquid solvent on the moistening roller l9.It is particularly important that this hard roller be prevented fromresting on the relatively soft synthetic rubber rollers l9 and 20, assuch engage ment would form depressions in the softer rollers.

According to my invention I mount two cams 24 and on the drum at theopposite ends thereof. These cams are adapted to engage driving wheels26 and 21 which are provided on the ends of the roller 2|. In this waythe rotation of the drum will impart to the roller 2| a limited rotationwhile the cams 24 and 25 are in engagement with the wheels 26 and 21.The roller 2| is supported at its ends by two bars 28 and 29 and thesebars are mounted on the ends of the trough 22 in such a fashion thatthey have a limited movement up and down and are yieldably urged towardthe drum by springs 30 and 3|. The construction by which this mountingof the roller 2| is achieved is the same at both ends of the trough 22and is best illustrated in detail by Figure 4 of the drawings.

Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, the bar 29 is shown asprovided with an elongated aperture 32 and a slot 33 to receive twomounting pins 34 and 35 that are threaded into the end portion 22a ofthe trough 22. This end portion 22a has two slots 36 and 31 facingtoward the rollers 20 and I9 respectively. A spring 38 is seated in theslot 36 and yieldingly presses a bearing sleeve 39 on the shaft 20a ofthe roller 20 upwardly. The roller |9 has a bearing sleeve 46 on itsshaft |9a and this bearing sleeve is guided in vertical movement by theslot 31. A pin 4|, seated in the end 22a of the trough, limits thedownward movement of the bearing 40 in the slot 31. The roller 2| hasits shaft 2 la mounted in a bearing sleeve 42 that is seated in the bar29. The mounting of the rollers at the other end 2211 of the trough isthe same as that shown in Figure 4, and the bar 28 is mounted by pins 34and 35 at the end 22b of the trough in the same manner as the bar 29 ismounted. The parts are shown in Figure '4, in the position that theyoccupy when the three rollers I9, 20 and 2| are separated from eachother and the roller H3 is lowered out of contact with the roller l9.This is the resting position of the mechanism and is the same positionas that shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The spring 3| is seated in arecess 43 in the end of 4 the bar 29 and bears against a shoulder 45that is formed on the end portion 22a of the trough 22. A like shoulder44 forms a stop for the spring 39 which is seated in the end of the bar23.

When the cams 24 and 25 engage the wheels 26 and 21 on the transferroller 2|, the bars 28 and 29 can move endwise against the pressure ofthe springs 36 and 3|. Also the bars have a limited movement up and downso as to permit the roller 2| to seat properly on the rollers :9

and 20.

Figure 2 illustrates the position of the parts when the rollers l1 andI8 are lowered away from contact with the drum l4 and the roller l9 resspectively. The feeding roller I8 is supported on two arms 46 and 41that are pivoted on a cross tie rod 48 that extends between the sideframes I0 and H. These arms have recesses at their free ends to receivebearings 59 that are journalled on the ends of the shaft |8a of theroller H3. The arms 46 and 41 are constructed alike except that one isfor the left hand side and the other is for the right hand side of themachine. The roller H has bearings 5| journalled on the ends of itsshaft Hot and these bearings fit in recesses 52 that are provided inlever arms 53 which support the roller H. The lever arms are pivoted tothe side frames l6 and H by pivot pins 54 that extend into bosses 55provided on the side frames. The lever arms 53 have adjustable stopmembers 55 at their lower ends and these stop members bear againsteccentric cams 51 that are fixed on a shaft 58. The shaft 58 isjournalled in the side frames l6 and H. The hand lever 23 is affixed toone end of the shaft 58. At the other end of the shaft 58, a bracket 59is secured to the side frame l6 and is provided with lugs 60 and 6|which are positioned to engage a pin 62 that is fixed on the cam 51 thatis adjacent to the side frame H]. The pin 62 limits the movement of thecams 51 to approximately 180 degrees. When the pin 62 engages the lug69, the roller [1 is raised into pressure engagement with the drum l3.When the pin 62 is engaged with the lug 6|, the roller I1 is loweredaway from the drum l3 as illustrated in Figure 2.

In order to apply operating pressure of the roller l3 against the rollerI9, I provide a spring 63 between a pivoted block 64 on each lever arm53 and a pivot block 65 on each arm 41. The springs 63 yieldingly pressthe arms 41 upwardly so as to cause the roller l8 to engage the roller|9 and lift it until it contacts the roller 2| and lifts the roller 2|so as to move the bars 28 and 29 upwardly against the heads of the pins35. This is the position illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings. It isobvious that when the parts are in this position, engagement of the cams24 and 25 with the wheels 26 and 21 will force the roller 2| against theroller 26 so that the rotation imparted to the roller 2| will also causerollers 29 and I9 to rotate to feed and moisten a copy sheet that is fedbetween the rollers l8 and |9. When the cams 51 are moved to allow thelevers 53 to lower the roller |1 away from the drum, this relieves thepressure on the springs 53 so that the arms 45 and 41 may drop and allowthe roller l8 to separate from the roller l9. The roller l9 will dropdown until its bearing 49 rests on the pins 4| and the roller itself isspaced from the roller 2|. The roller 2| is then free to drop with itsbars 28 and 29 and the springs 30 and 3| move the bars 28 and 29 endwiseto separate the rollers 20 and 2|.

The pressure of the roller 2! against the roller it when the earns 24and 25 engage the wheels 25 and 2'! will depress the roller 2! againstthe springs 33 but as soon as the pressure on the roller 2i ceases, theroller 28 will be moved up by the springs as. The engagement of the camsand 25 with the wheels 26 and 21 exerts a downward force on the wheelsand on the roller sufficient to overcome the friction of the bars 253and 29 against the heads of the pins 34 and so that during the drivingmovement of the roller iii, the roller and its bars 28 and 29 are, ineffect, floating under the horizontal resilient pressure of the springs3B and Si and the upward resilient pressure from the roller is. Thisfloataction allows the rollers to adjust themselves to each other andreduces the drag on the rotation of the drum to a minimum.

The liquid trough 22 has a liquid inlet opening in the end 22s. Thisopening is illustrated at in Figures 2 and 6. A. drain opening El isprovided below the level of the opening at. These two openings areutilized to fill and drain the trough 22. A pipe nipple 68 is threadedinto the trough end $4.11 and extends outwardly through the adjacentside frame ll] of the machine. A similar pipe nipple G9 is threaded intothe trough end wall 22 around the opening 3?. These pipe nipplesutilized to removably mount a valved bottle holder it. The bottle holderIt has seats ii and for the ends of the nipples E8 and 69 and sealingrings is of a suitable resilient material such as neoprene rubber, areprovided on e to releasably secure them and seal a in the recesses H and'72. The bottle holdor it is further secured against displacement by theprovision of a laterally extending arm hi thereon which is fastened by ascrew E5 to the side frame it. It is believed to be evident that uponremoval of the screw 15, the bottle holder 5E3 can be pulled off thenipples 63 and 59 so as to make it easy to clean out the inlet andoutlet openings for the trough 22.

The several rollers il-2l are easily removed for cleaning orreplacement. When the rollers and it are in the lowered position shownin Figure 2, they can be lifted out easily. In order to remove therollers I9, 20, and 2!, the pins 34 and 35 can be removed, after whichit is a simple matter to lift the rollers I 9 and 28 out of the troughin portions 22a and 22b. The bars 28 and 2t slide oi? the ends of theshaft 2 la. The trough 22 can be completely removed by removing bolts tothat secure the trough onto brackets is that are secured to the sideframes id and l! by screw bolts H.

is believed that the nature and advantages of invention will be apparentfrom the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheetholding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pres sureroller for pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid troughmounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported inthe trough, a second roller alongside the trough, end. portions on thetrough, the second roller having bearings mounted for movement up anddown on sa end portions, a third roller beneath the second roller,spring means yieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing itto support the second roller above its lower limit of movement withrespect to the trough, a transfer roller above the wall of the troughbetween the first roller and the. second roller, means mounting thetransfer roller for movement laterally toward and away from the firstroller, said mounting means holding the transfer roller spaced above thesecond roller when the second roller is at its lower limit of movementwith respect to said end portions, said mounting means including stop-slimiting the upward movement of the transfer roller when the secondroller is moved up against it by the third roller.

2. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheetholding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure rollerfor pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounts. inthe frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough,a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, thesecond roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on saidend portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring meansyieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to supportthe second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to thetrough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the firstroller and the second roller, means mounting the transfer roller formovement 1aterally toward and away from the roller, spring means urgingthe transfer roller away from the first roller, mounting mean holdingthe transfer roller spaced above the second roller when the secondroller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to said endportions, said mounting means including stops limiting the upwardmovement of the transfer roller wine the second roller is moved upagainst it by the third roller.

3. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a maste sheetholding drum rotatabiy mounted in the frame and having a pressure rollerfor pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted inthe frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in trough, asecond roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, thesecond roller having hearings mounted for movement up and down on saidend portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring meansyieldin ly urging the third roller upwardly causing it to support thesecond roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to thetrough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the firstroller and the second roller, means mounting the transfer roller formovement laterally toward and away from the first roller, spring meansurging the transfer roller away from the first roller, said mountingmeans holding the transfer roller spaced above the second roller whenthe second roller is at its lower limit of movement with respect to saidend portions, said mounting means including stops limiting the upwardmovement of the transfer roller when the second roller is moved upagainst it by the third roller, and manually operable means for holdingthe third roller down out of contact with the second roller.

4. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheetholding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure rollerfor pressing copy sheets against the drum, a liquid trough mounted inthe frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough,a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, thesecond roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on saidend portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring meansyieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to supportthe second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to thetrough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the firstroller and the second roller, drive wheels fixed on the ends of saidtransfer roller, cams on the drum positioned to engage the wheels androtate the transfer roller during a portion of each revolution of thedrum, means mounting the transfer roller for movement laterally towardand away from the first roller, said mounting means holding the transferroller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at itslower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mountingmeans including stops limiting the upward movement of the transferroller when the second roller is moved up against it by the thirdroller.

5. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheetholding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure rollerfor pressing copy sheets against the drum, 9. liquid trough mounted inthe frame adjacent to the drum, a first roller supported in the trough,a second roller alongside the trough, end portions on the trough, thesecond roller having bearings mounted for movement up and down on saidend portions, a third roller beneath the second roller, spring meansyieldingly urging the third roller upwardly and causing it to supportthe second roller above its lower limit of movement with respect to thetrough, a transfer roller above the wall of the trough between the firstroller and the second roller, drive wheels fixed on the ends of saidtransfer roller, cams on the drum positioned to engage the wheels androtate the transfer roller during a portion of each revolution of thedrum, means mounting the transfer roller for movement laterally towardand away from the first roller, spring means urging the transfer rolleraway from the first roller, said mounting means holding the transferroller spaced above the second roller when the second roller is at itslower limit of movement with respect to said end portions, said mountingmeans including stops limiting the upward movement of the transferroller when the second roller is moved up against it by the thirdroller.

6. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a master sheetholding drum rotatably mounted in the frame and having a pressure rollerfor pressing moistened copy sheets against the drum, a liquid troughmounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, feeding and moisteningrollers for transferring liquid from the trough to a copy sheet andadvancing the sheet to the drum, inlet and outlet nipples projectingfrom one end of the trough through the frame, a valved bottle holderfixed to the frame and having lateral seats for said nipples into whichthe nipples are slidable, sealing rings on the nipples, and means tosecure the holder to the frame.

7. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a drum rotatablymounted in the frame and having a pressure roller mounted in the framefor pressing copy sheets against the drum, means for moistening andfeeding copy sheets to the drum and pressure roller comprising a liquidtrough mounted in the frame adjacent to the drum, a liquid supply rollerpositioned in the trough, a transfer roller positioned between thesupply roller and the drum and spaced laterally and above the liquidsupply roller and moistening roller spaced laterally from the supplyroller toward the drum and below the transfer roller, means mounting thefeed and moistening roller for movement up and down into and out ofengagement with the transfer roller, a second feed roller spaced belowthe feed and moistening roller and movably mounted in said frame for upand down movement, means operable to raise the second feed roller tobring it in contact with the feed and moistening roller and to move thelast named roller into engagement with the transfer roller, movablesupports for the ends of the transfer roller including spring meansurging the transfer roller away from the liquid supply roller toward thetrough, a feed and the drum, drive wheels on the ends of the transferroller and cams fixed to the drum at the ends thereof and positioned toengage the wheels as the drum rotates and force the transfer roller intodriving engagement with the liquid supply roller against the pressure ofthe springs.

8. In a. duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a drum rotatablymounted in the frame, and a pressure roller for pressing copy sheetsagainst the drum, a liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to thedrum, a roller in the trough, said roller having bearings at the endsand said trough having slots in the ends thereof in which said bearingswill move up and down, springs in said slots supporting said bearings,said trough having end portions extending laterally toward the drumoutside the trough, slots in said end portions, a second roller betweenthe trough and the drum having bearings at its ends movable up and downin the slots in said end portions, 9. transfer roller above the firstnamed rollers and adapted to engage both of them to transfer liquid fromthe roller in the trough to the second roller, laterally movablesupporting means mounting the transfer roller for movement into and outof engagement with the roller in the trough, spring means urging saidsupporting means in a direction to hold the transfer roller out ofengagement with the roller in the trough, means on the drum operable asthe drum rotates to move the transfer roller into engagement with theroller in the trough during a portion of each rotation of the drum, asheet feeding roller movably mounted in the frame and normally spacedbelow the second roller, and means to move the sheet feeding rollerupwardly against the second roller and operable to raise the secondroller into engagement with the transfer roller.

9. In a duplicating machine, a supporting frame having a drum rotatablymounted in the frame, and a pressure roller for pressing copy sheetsagainst the drum, a. liquid trough mounted in the frame adjacent to thedrum, a liquid feed roller in the trough, bearings at the ends of saidroller supported by the ends of said trough, said trough having andportions extending laterally toward the drum outside the trough, asecond roller between the trough and the drum having bearings at itsends, the bearings being mounted,

for up and down movement in said end portions, a transfer roller abovethe two first named rollers and adapted to transfer liquid from the feedroller to the second roller, bars extending transversely of the troughat the ends of said transfer roller, the transfer roller beingjournailed for rotation in said bars, means mounting said bars forlimited movement toward and away from the drum, springs urging the barstoward the drum normally to hold the transfer roller spaced from theliquid feed roller, a sheet feeding roller spaced below the secondroller and movably mounted in the frame for vertical movement to engagethe second roller and lift it, manually 5 operable means for raising thesheet feeding roller and the second roller to bring the second rollerinto engagement with the transfer roller, and means on the drum operableto move the transfer roller and said bars away from the drum and bringthe transfer roller into engagement 1 with the liquid feed roller duringa portion of each rotation of the drum.

HENRY P. KEIL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Rockhill Oct. 10, 1944 Peterson et a1 Sept. 20, 1949 JaggerJan. 2, 1951 Keil Dec. 23, 1952

